Two Years ago
By: Charles Giuliano - Mar 14, 2023
Two Years ago
With a thump
Slumped to the ground
Excruciating pain
In buttocks and thighs
Weeks of wheeling about
Nights in ER
Mornings at hospitals
Every kind of test
Both of us exhausted
Astrid tasking for two
Morning of March 18
Day after St. Paddy’s
Bad luck of the Irish
Height of pandemic
Two years ago
Knock on the door
Mike the Monk
An early riser
Some seven AM
Scooped me up
Scampered off to hospital
She went back to bed
Much needed sleep
Only to be awakened
A rude encounter
During the drive
He told terrible jokes
A wonderful distraction
Left at the door
Wheeled into OR
Next days a blur
Whacked on Oxy
A homeless woman
With her daughter
Living in my room
They ordered pizza
But wouldn’t share
Closed to visitors
Astrid appeared
Outside my window
Waved and pantomimed
A danse macabre
Days passed slowly
Tried to meditate
Reruns of Law and Order
She came for Easter
Separated by plastic wall
She brought tulips
Days turned to weeks
I met dear Paul
A human being
My dining companion
Cherished conversations
His daughter an
FBI agent living
In Hawaii
I think of him now and then
We got through hard times
Speaking of everything
Or nothing at all
Daily PT
Taking simple steps
Then home again
Vows to be Daoist
Better husband and being
Too soon abandoned
Return to quotidian
My lumpy self
As time passes by
Where would I be
Without her